Author Archives: jackgoldstone

I have not written a blog in some time — events crowd too quickly, today’s news is forgotten and overshadowed by the next jaw-dropping events, so how to blog about what’s already forgotten? Yet Brexit stays with us, the event … Continue reading →

Normally, preparation for a major summit or international meeting is so tight and thorough that events are virtually scripted.  Every meeting, every interview, every utterance is planned in advance to ensure that they contribute to the desired outcome. Last week, … Continue reading →

I am not a Constitutional  lawyer.  I am not an alarmist by nature.  What I am is a global historian and expert on democracy.   And by the standards of both history and democracy today’s ruling in Masterpiece Cake Shop vs. … Continue reading →

This week’s lengthy essay gets back to the origins of this blog site: the problems created by unbalanced population growth across the world’s regions.  This essay will be published in Spanish in La Vangardia in June; please do not quote … Continue reading →

Donald Trump and the GOP’s greatest victory has been their tax cut, aimed mainly at corporations and the rich, but promising to boost the entire economy. Yet this is increasingly looking like an own goal — and not just because … Continue reading →

The United States has the most durable, longest-lived democratic constitution in the world.  It has withstood the Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, two presidents’ impeachments, and one president’s resignation.  Why then should anyone worry … Continue reading →

China has just completed its 19th National Communist Party Congress.   When China becomes the most powerful nation in the world ten to fifteen years hence, this Congress may well be seen as marking the turning point in China’s rise. This … Continue reading →

President Trump is being castigated for having “failed” the test of the Presidency this week.  After a horrific murder and mass injury attack by a neo-Nazi terrorist in Charlottesville, VA, he did not make a speech that would bring people … Continue reading →

People are having a hard time understanding Donald Trump.  Why is he so confrontational?   Why does he constantly troll the media?  When will he learn that foreign policy is complicated, and that policy-making requires tact and compromise? The answers are … Continue reading →

The United States, thank God, has a vibrant and effective federal system.  Every day, at the state and local level, fully independent, self-funding governments are enforcing laws, working to preserve the environment, providing support to the sick and needy, offering … Continue reading →